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He said he woke up one night in November to a “tingly sensation” and a spider on his leg.

Not thinking much about it, he brushed the spider off his leg and went back to sleep - but woke up with a burning sensation in his leg that got unbearable throughout the day forcing him to visit A&E.

At King's Mill Hospital Matt was treated for a spider bite and thought that was the end of it.

The wound on Matt Clarke's leg

However, the burning sensation didn’t go away and a few days later he”felt a liquid dripping” down his leg, which he said was coming from the bite which had burst open. He also said that the pain that followed it made it impossible for him to even walk and he was left with “a hole he could see his muscles through”.

He said: “I didn’t understand why the bite wasn’t healing so I tried to find answers. I researched spiders and my symptoms, and I realised I had been bitten by a ‘false black widow’. "

This was then confirmed by a doctor and Matt had to return to the hospital where he was given an X-ray.